Pages

Saturday, May 20, 2017

Weekend Open Thread

I want to talk about movies but sometimes my arms bend back.
This is a weird weekend. We've got a new Ridley Scott Alien movie and new Twin Peaks premiering. Let's hope it's not a careful-what-you-wish-for scenario.

48 comments:

Once again, I feel it's my civic duty to spread the word about a truly rare thing, the Finnish genre movie, since a few of them are coming out in the next year.

There's Backwood Madness, a fantasy horror movie about ancient spirits of the forest waking up angry as WW2 rages on. It should come out later this year (in Finland at least), though I believe it's been pushed back a few times already.

Then there's Rendel, an honest-to-goodness Finnish superhero movie, the first of its kind. Doesn't look like anything original and I can't say I have high hopes for this one, but I'll definitely check it out the first chance I get, if only to support the brave souls who are trying to do something different for once.

And of course next February will see the release of Iron Sky: The Coming Race, the sequel to the "Nazis on the Moon" scifi comedy from 2012. I'm kind of half anticipating and half dreading this one. The first one was really fun at times, but I don't know what to expect from the sequel. Alhough the trailer does feature Hitler riding a T-Rex, so there's that.

I'll report back if any of the movies I've mentioned is worth anything.

Watched the Blackcoat's daughter after you fine folks let me know it was on Amazon prime and I was blown away. I had high expectations and it even exceeded those. Seriously, going in as blind as possible is the best option.

Today I'm seeing alien covenant and just hoping to not be let down. I've tempered my expectations, so we'll see.

Finally saw Fast and Furious 8. With the disappointment of Fast 7 being so "normal" (well, for this franchise as least) I figured there was no way that this could exceed or be on the same level of stupidity and craziness as Fast 5 and 6. While those two still remain my favorites, this one is certainly in the mix now for consideration. What a freakin' insane movie. The last 45 minutes are on "Shoot 'Em Up" parody levels. I felt like I was watching a cartoon the whole time. The dialog is even dumber than the previous films and that in itself is a feat. So much craziness I gotta say I kind of loved watching it.

F7, more "normal" than 6? I've only seen 6 once, so maybe I'd like it more on a rewatch, but it's my least favorite of the series (though I've never bothered with TD), because it's so comparatively mundane. After the vibrancy of Rio, car chases in dingy London streets at night, a desert highway, and and endless runway at night? Meh. A smooth-talking English terrorist (but really only terrorist supplier), whose driving ideology is "Efficiency"? Lame. Focusing the drama on amnesiac Letty (the dullest Letty) and confused/concerned Dom (ditto)? Sigh.

F7, on the other hand, gives us parachuting cars, building-jumping cars, revenge-fueled Statham, and more globetrotting. That gives it the win in my book. ;)

I think I forgot that the "building jumping' was in 7 and thought it was in 6. Yes, that scene is by far my favorite part of 7 but something about the other action sequences just felt not as crazy to me for some reason.

I think my other big beef with 6 is that Brian was so sidelined. As PB pointed out in the Fate podcast, he and Letty hadn't actually interacted before then, so he really doesn't have much of anything to do in that one. Unless I'm mistaken, 7 had his whole arc of being ambivalent about retiring and becoming a full-time dad from the start, so Brian had a much bigger role in that one even before Walker passed.

Yo! You know way more about the story than I do. I could barely tell you the characters names! If I approached these films looking for a story I would hate the entire franchise so I don't pay attention to that. I want coyote and road runner shit from the FF flicks, haha!

Watched The Last Detail and as discussed a few weeks ago, yep, it was awesome. Nicholson stole the show obviously, but this movie had so much to say it's going to take me a while to unpack all of it. Does Hal Ashby make non-masterpieces? I've seen 3 of his movies: Harold and Maude, The Last Detail, and Being There and I think they are all perfect movies.

I haven't seen Ashby's 8 Million Ways to Die, but that's supposedly pretty bad. Shame, because it's about Matt Scudder, one of my favourite literary characters, from my favourite author, Lawrence Block. Scudder was given a second chance in the recent A Walk Among the Tombstones with Liam Neeson playing the character. It was fine. TJ was underwritten, and where the hell was Mick Ballou?

The less said about Whoopi Goldberg as a gender-bending Bernie Rhodenbarr in Burglar, the better.

I think I remember reading years ago that George Clooney had optioned (I have no idea if that's the correct expression, but it sounds right) fiction's best and perhaps only bookstore owner-cum-pilferer.

I've often thought that John Cusack would make a good Bernie. He has the cleverness and wit necessary to essay the role.

I'm glad the Blu-ray arrived and you enjoyed The Last Detail. It's yonks since I saw it, but the scene in which Randy Quaid is standing a ways away from Jack Nicholson, sort of swaying if memory serves, and Nicholson realises he's making a bolt for it is great.

Goin' South is another Nicholson movie that's been sort of forgotten, I think. Too bad, because I thought it was pretty good. "It's not nasal at all, it's glottal..."

I didn't like Prometheus and I'm not a fan of Alien: Covenant. Clearly I'm not looking forward to the next two of these that Scott apparently has planned. Between having no interest in seeing the secret origins of the Xenomorphs, the hack ending you can see coming for the last half hour of the film, some dumb character decisions, and a bunch of characters I didn't care about this movie felt very flat to me. The only attempt that is made at getting the audience to care about any of the deaths in this movie is by making the victim the spouse of another character as shorthand for why we should care, and then they do it more than once.

I just checked The Valley of Gwangi on IMDb. Is that the movie that someone was watching on TV in an episode of Friends? I remember a scene where some cowboys were lassoing a T-Rex. If so, I gotta seek it out.

I watched Bubba Ho-Tep after having heard it spoken about on the podcast. I thought it was great. Bruce Campbell brought genuine warmth to his performance. I might give Ash vs Evil Dead another go because of this. I saw the first couple of episodes of that show and couldn't get into it.

I also saw Don't Kill It. That movie makes Fallen look like The Exorcist.

Is Dolph Lundgren turning into Jack Palance?

And Murder Party. Pretty good, thought I.

Oh, and I watched Dig Two Graves, which I loved, mostly because of the performance of Ted "Was she a great big fat person?" Levine. That guy is awesome. I want him to be my grampa.

If Kunider wants to watch a monster movie where the only part of the creature that's seen is the bit between its ankles and its knees, that's his business. Personally, I think China is ripping him off, but if there's a niche market for this sort of thing, good on them for exploiting it.

Too bad you didn't like the new Godzilla. I think Hideaki Anno made a good (not great) monster movie. I don't know why directors are so afraid of showing the monster, but what we're left with is very entertaining. It has a political commentary that i found very funny.

I did pay a little too much for it, but at the time of ordering, the US version wasn't even announced yet. It was litterally announced the day after i got it.

Just finished Netflix's Mindhorn, an Isle of Man comedy about a washed-up actor getting mixed up with a murder investigation. It's a perfectly nice way to spend 90 minutes.

Also watched Renny Harlin's Devil's Pass (aka The Dyatlov Pass Incident). Not much to say here really, it's not a good movie. I'm still determined to see all of Renny's movies though. Driven, 12 Rounds and Skiptrace to go.

It's been a nice little Saturday afternoon/evening for me. I watched 'Hoffa' this afternoon and was pleasantly surprised by it. I was a little worried in the beginning when I heard Nicholson's accent, but eventually I got used to it. The stuff between him and Bobby Kennedy was fantastic. Really enjoyed it.

I just finished the original 'Alien' for the first time ever! There's nothing I can say that hasn't been said about it. Nearly 40 years later and still effective. There was only one effect that looked a little cheesy to me (when Skeritt's character dies), but other than that the rest were fantastic. It's movies like this that make you wonder why they would ever shy away from practical effects.

'Aliens' is currently on my screen! Another first for me, getting ready for Covenant. Believe it or not I've seen 3 and Resurrection (on HBO years ago), but I had never seen the first 2. His name is James...Cameron! No budget too steep, no sea too deep!

I rewatched Aliens too recently. It's so good (although, several scenes when they were outside felt like a set piece and it took me out of the movie). Don't skip on the 2nd Aliens vs Predator movie though (known as AvP: Requiem to the die hards).

Quick question...would those of you who saw "Prometheus" ever believe for even a fraction of a second that Elizabeth Shaw would allow the ship that they used leave that planet with even ONE of those black goo vases...much less the number they appear to have had? Show of hands?

And since is this now the second movie by John Logan about a ship that intercepts a strange signal and follows it to a planet where they find a robot that looks exactly like the one they have on board, shouldn't this movie be called "Star Trek Nemesis 2"? And does Wil Wheaton have a cameo in the wedding scene at the beginning of this one?

XX - I pretty much completely agree with Patrick's review. It's a solid horror anthology made by all female directors with all good shorts, but no truly great short. However, all are interesting and I definitely recommend the film. It's very exciting to see more women creating horror these days. What's your favorite? Mine was Birthday Party. I love how pitch black the comedy was.

CHILD EATER - Here's the one I really want to talk about. This is a small, new indie horror that pretty much no one is talking about, but people should be. It's rare film I actually found scary. True, it's an obvious attempt to create a new Freddy, but it's a damn good attempt! The Child Eater was really frightening and creative. I loved the atmosphere, and I found the movie very well done. It maintains a consistent sense of dread throughout. Highly recommended!

I DON'T FEEL AT HOME IN THIS WORLD ANYMORE - Really solid film! The two lead performances are terrific and really make this movie. And it's always nice to see Jane Levy in anything.

Watched 'Get Me Roger Stone' on Netflix today. I've heard of him over the years, but to actually know about the impact that he's had in our countries history was pretty fascinating. I'll leave it at that...

Aliens was great, but I honestly prefer the original. I watched the Special Edition of Aliens and it was entertaining, had great effects, but I didn't care for the little girl character (which I know proly sounds terrible, I'm a terrible human being) in it. I just found that whole aspect unnecessary. 'I mostly found it unnecessary...mostly.' It's still great in its own right though. I just really loved the original. Covenant Tuesday!

Also my Bill Paxton comment above was based on the opening locker room scene only, so yeah that didn't hold up much after that, haha. I prefer the cast of the original as well, but that's me, both movies are full of talent.

I had a rare 3 day weekend so of course I came down with the flu. But I got to watch movies. Finally caught up with The Kill List, which I could not stop squirming through. I also saw Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, which I loved the concept ans messiness of it. Then I watches for the first tine since 2001 Josie and the PussyCats, which I kinda loved. For me it was smart and goofy at the same time.

Also hopefully tonight I will get a chance to watch Blackcoats Daughter tonight.